uniform.'
It finally sunk in. Paul's promotion had been authorized to take effect. Jen grinned a little wider.
Hayes kept his expression stern. 'If you're going to be promoted, perhaps you ought to retake the commissioning oath. No objections? Good. Raise your right hands,' he ordered Paul and Brad Pullman. 'Repeat after me. I, state your name.'
'I, Paul Sinclair,' Paul recited.
'Do solemnly swear or affirm…'
'Do solemnly swear of affirm…'
The captain read through the rest of the oath, pausing to let Paul and Brad Pullman recite each section in turn. '… that I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic;'
'… that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;'
'… that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion;'
'… and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; so help me God.'
Paul lowered his hand and grinned at Jen.
Captain Hayes finally smiled as well and handed a set of lieutenant's insignia to Jen. 'Lieutenant Shen, I understand we're jumping the gun a little bit on this, but as spouse-to-be I think the honor of pinning these on Paul should be yours.'
'Thank you, sir.' Jen took the twined silver bars, removed Paul's single silver bar from his collar, then pinned the lieutenant insignia on. 'Now that we're the same rank you've got an excuse for not saluting me when we meet in public,' she teased Paul.
Captain Hayes pinned the insignia on Pullman, then Paul and Brad shook hands.
Lieutenant Sinclair. It felt good. It'd been a long time coming.
Jen waved in farewell. 'I've got to get back to work. See you at lunch.'
'Yes. Fogarty's,' Paul reminded her.
Ensign Taylor contrived to look shocked when she saw Paul an hour later. 'Damn. I'd better make sure I get those ice skates.'
'Why?'
'Because I figure I've got a better than middlin' chance of going to hell when I die, and since you just made lieutenant that must mean hell has finally frozen over.'
'It might thaw out again by the time you get there.'
'Could be,' Taylor agreed. 'I ain't in no hurry. Where's Willy Wise Ass?'
'Who?'
'Our fellow division officer.'
'Brad Pullman? I left him in the wardroom.'
'Huh. If you see him before I do, tell him that if he tries messing about with comm linkages again without coordinating with my people first, I'll pin those new lieutenant's bars of his onto his forehead.'
'You're kidding.' Ensign Taylor usually acted easy going, but Paul had quickly figured you could get on her bad side real fast by messing with 'her' equipment. 'Why'd he do that?'
'Figured he knew a better way to do it. Maybe it is. But since he didn't talk to anyone about it, his little changes locked up half the linkages.' Taylor shook her head. 'There's such a thing as being too smart for your own good.'
Paul found himself smiling. 'I guess that's one thing I don't have to worry about.'
'Probably not,' Taylor agreed. 'And if it starts to become a problem, we'll just promote you to lieutenant commander and make you a little dumber. Ah, hell, maybe I won't kill Pullman this time. But he better start using his head as well as his brains.'
'I'll make sure to mention that to him. Hey, has Moraine talked to you about the tracking software?'
They were still deep in a discussion of the twin problems of how to fix the software and how to keep Moraine happy, when Paul's data pad reminded him of his lunch appointment. He ended up practically running to meet Jen on time.
'Wow. Lunch at Fogarty's,' Jen remarked as they sat down. 'What a lucky girl I am. I haven't eaten here since… the day before yesterday.'
Paul grinned. 'I haven't seen you for a couple of hours. I didn't want to wait any longer.'
'Please. My stomach. I haven't eaten yet, and you're making me nauseous.'
They ate, they talked. Paul tried not to look at the time any more often than normal. Even though he had every right to take lunch off of the ship, Moraine was watching him like a hawk and he needed to get back to the ship on time.
'Paul? Paul Sinclair?' The voice was right behind him. Paul turned and saw Special Agent Connally smiling at him with a surprised expression. 'I don't believe it! It's me, Paul. Pam.'
'Pam? What're you doing on Franklin?'
'I got me a government job. Come here, you.' She pulled him up and they hugged, one of her hands reaching in to remove the wire so smoothly that Paul almost missed it even though he knew it was going to happen. Then Connally was smiling brightly at Jen. 'Who's this you're with?'
Before Paul could answer, Jen half-rose to offer her hand. 'Jen Shen. You're a friend of Paul's, huh?'
'Sure thing. Years ago. Is that a ring? Are you two engaged? That's wonderful!' Pam burbled on for a few moments, playing her role so well that Paul found himself wondering if she really was an old friend. 'Look, I've got some place I have to be, but I'm sure I'll see you around every now and then. I'll call. Okay? Great. See you soon.'
Paul sat back down and saw Jen giving him an arch look. 'Old friend?' she asked.
'Uh, yeah.'
'How good a friend? That was a nice lingering hug you two exchanged.'
'She's just an old friend,' Paul protested. 'We were never involved.' That, at least, was absolutely true.
'Where from?'
'Annapolis,' Paul improvised. 'She went to that civilian college located near the Academy.'
'Oh, I see.' Jen seemed to be enjoying herself. 'You guys dated, then.'
'No. I've never been on a date with Pam.' It was a relief to be able to tell the truth about something even though the context was more than a little misleading.
'Why not? She seems nice.'
'Uh, we just never clicked. You know.'
Jen finally laughed. 'Paul, you're allowed to have old girlfriends. It's not like I don't have a few old boyfriends floating around.'
'I've never met any,' Paul reminded her.
She grinned wickedly. 'That's because I meant the 'floating around' part literally. My father spaced them out of airlocks.'
Paul started to laugh, then gave her a questioning look. 'Knowing your father, I'm not sure whether or not you're joking.' His data pad beeped. 'Time for me to get back. My new department head thinks I'm spending too much time off of the ship.'
'And you're complaining? This from a guy who's planning to go back to working for Herdez? When she gets command of a ship she'll probably seal the quarterdeck for three years and keep the crew working nonstop the entire time.'
'At least she'll know what she's doing. Catch you tonight?'
'Sure. My social calendar's open. Let's get you back to your ship. I'll walk a little ways with you.' They were halfway back to the ship when Jen gave him a loving look. 'Who's she really?' she murmured.
'What?'
'Don't look upset. Anyone watching can tell I'm saying sweet things to you. Who's this Pam person really?'
'I…'
'Is she related to that thing we discussed? Working on it?'
